A series win, a big promotion, and more in today’s Bird Droppings
Happy Monday, Camden Chatters! And it’s a good Monday because the Orioles have finally gotten back on track with a winning series. I was not mentally prepared for three series losses in a row.
Yesterday’s game was a solid win, a relatively low-stress affair that the Orioles rarely see. Tyler Wells pitched into the sixth inning and the offense put up six runs in the third inning en route to the 8-3 win. You can get all of the details and vote in the Most Birdland Player Poll over in Tyler Young’s recap.
It would have been nice to get more than 5.1 innings out of Wells in a game where the Orioles scored eight runs, but it’s hard to argue the nine strikeouts. It’s also hard to argue with a tidbit I saw on Codify Baseball’s Twitter account. Tyler Wells has allowed an opponent batting average of .176. That’s very good! In fact, it’s second best of all qualified pitchers in MLB this year. Only Shohei Ohtani has been better.
The win against the Giants was the team’s 20th on the road, where they have a 20-10 record. That’s tied for most road wins in baseball with Atlanta. I don’t need to tell you that the Orioles have come a long way since 2018, but when I saw it pointed out that the Orioles only had 19 road wins that year I was kind of blown away.
With the series win wrapped up against the Giants, the Orioles are off today as they travel to Milwaukee for another interleague series. I visited the then-named Miller Park back in 2008 when the Orioles were playing and I thought it was a great ballpark. Very different from Camden Yards. The park is now hilariously called American Family Ballpark.
Other than the series win, the big news in Birdland last night was news of the promotion of Heston Kjerstad to Triple-A Norfolk. Kjerstad’s success in 2023 after his long struggle with illness and injury has been a real feel-good story and the news of his promotion is just one more step. I’m very happy for him!
Kjerstad is OPS’ing over .900 with the Bowie Baysox and has been playing a fair bit of both first base and DH despite being drafted as an outfielder. The Orioles just might have a spot for a lefty slugger at first base.
Links
Josh Lester’s first career hit helps Baltimore Orioles beat San Francisco Giants | TSN
Josh Lester is 28 years old and just got his first major league hit. And it drove in two runs! I love moments like that.
New York Yankees outcast looks like a new man with the Orioles – FanSided
Is Aaron Hicks’s hot start with the Orioles for real, or is he just our Franchy Cordero?
The Orioles get encouraging news on Gunnar Henderson – MASN Sports
Gunnar Henderson’s back discomfort is mild and he should be back in the lineup soon. Nice to get some good news!
Adam Frazier wants to walk more than he strikes out. The Orioles veteran is one of the rare players who could.
Adam Frazier knows he’s not a middle of the order bat, but that doesn’t mean he has goals! The last Oriole to walk more than he struck out, by the way, is Rafael Palmeiro in 2004.
Birthdays and History
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have two Orioles birthday buddies. Robinson Chirinos, one of last season’s veteran presences, turns 39 years old today. And Russ Ortiz turns 49. Ortiz had a 12-season major league career that included 20 games with the Orioles in 2006.
On this day in 1961, the Orioles were playing the Yankees and Mickey Mantle injured himself running into a chain link fence and ended up missing 61 games. Chain link fence? Old stadiums were hardcore. The Orioles lost the game.
In 2008, the draft was held and the first pitcher taken was by the Orioles, fourth overall. That player was Brian Matusz.